The Dragon and the Blade
by dragonstorybooks
Summary: Spyro has just been chosen to wield his family's ancient weapon, The Blade of the Purple Dragon. But just as he's getting familiar with it, another servant of Malefor shows up with a diabolical plan that nobody knows about. Will Spyro be able to overcome his inexperience with a sword to defeat his foe? Book II of The Return of Malefor series. Enjoy the tale! I do not own anything.
1. The Meeting

Chapter I: The Meeting

It was a dark and stormy night, in a cave somewhere near Twilight Falls. There, a young purple Dragon by the name of Spyro was engaged in a duel against his opponent, named Craddock. They were both in this duel for different reasons. For Craddock, it was to prevent Spyro from rescuing his captive. As for Spyro, he was fighting to rescue Cynder, who is the aforementioned captive, not to mention his true love.

As the two removed their swords from their scabbards, a clap of thunder boomed throughout the land and the two… wait, I'm getting ahead of myself again, aren't I? Sorry everyone, I almost spoiled the ending! Now, in order to build up the climax, we must understand how this began.

The whole story begins at the Dragon Temple, not only home of the Guardians, but a historic sight, and by the looks of it, you'll see what I mean.

Anyways, the purpose of this structure is a location for young dragons to harness their elemental abilities. That's right; dragons can use more elements than fire! One of those dragons in particular is Spyro, the Purple Dragon of Legend.

Multiple dragons have described Spyro as mature for his age, humble towards his actions and very responsible, a natural born leader in the words of some. In the eyes of the Guardians, this shows that he is ready to advance to the next level of his training. Earlier that day, Ignitus, the leader of the Guardians, provided undeniable proof of Spyro's service to dragonkind above and beyond the call of duty. The other Guardians agreed, and at sunset that day, Ignitus would call a meeting to inform Spyro of their decision.

As sunset neared, Spyro was training late, as was normal for him, when a messenger told him he was to attend a meeting.

**Hello, ! Sorry I've been gone for so long, but I've had other things to attend to. This is Chapter I of "The Dragon and the Blade." And if you are wondering, no Spyro and the other Dragons in this story are not humanized in any way, shape or form. This story also shows Spyro and Cynder's clever sides, rather than the side we've seen in the games all the time. And one more thing, sorry if the chapters seem so short, this was originally a short story project for school, but I just adapted it into a fanfiction because it seemed to work out here. Anyways, Enjoy!**


	2. The Blade of the Purple Dragon

Chapter II

The Blade of the Purple Dragon

At sunset, the meeting commenced, and the whole time Spyro was wondering what has happening. "Why did the Guardians need to see me on such short notice?" Spyro asked himself as Ignitus began his speech.

"Young dragon, we have observed your rigorous training and previous actions in the Maleforian War 6 years ago." Ignitus tells Spyro, "And now we have decided it is time you graduated to the next level of your training."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Spyro asked his mentor, perplexed by his statement. "I mean that it is time you began training to wield the sacred weapon of your ancestors." Ignitus tells him as he opens a small door behind him, revealing a sword.

"This is the Blade of the Purple Dragon. Your ancestors have wielded this sword for as long as Dragonkind can remember." "Didn't Malefor have that destroyed when he took over in 2008?" Spyro asks, knowing full well that Malefor had turned the Dragon Temple into his lair when he took over.

"He came close, but he could never find the sword's hiding place." Ignitus tells his protégé of sorts as he hands him the blade. "And now, it is yours." Spyro, in sheer awe, removes the sword from its scabbard, being careful to note any and all details about it.

The blade was as red as the setting sun, it was forged that way after all, and the hilt was probably iron or copper, plated with gold leaf. And the most promising factor, it was light, perfect for quick strikes. "How does it feel to hold history in your hand, Spyro?" Ignitus asks. "There aren't enough words in the English language to describe it." Spyro responds to Ignitus' question. "I'll start training to use it in the morning." he tells the Guardians. "That's good to hear, just note, Spyro, a sword takes a long time to master." Ignitus tells Spyro as he leaves.

The next morning, around 9am, Spyro is in the training room, with the Blade of the Purple Dragon, just practicing general swordsmanship, namely some fencing techniques that could come in handy later on. Unbeknownst to him however, someone from his past was about to make her return. This person was Ember, a pink dragoness who had a crush on Spyro before he met Cynder. "Hey Spyro!" Ember says a little over-cheerfully, causing Spyro to, in his surprise, turn his sword towards Ember. Of course the fact that Spyro had a sword didn't stun her or anyone else for that matter, the news had spread quickly, everyone in the Temple knew that Spyro was chosen to wield his family's blade.

"Ember what are you doing here?" Spyro asks as he puts the sword back into the scabbard. "What? Is it illegal for me to visit my crush?" Ember responds to Spyro's question. "For the 20th time, Ember, I'm already dating Cynder." Spyro responds. Ember rolls her eyes at the mention of Cynder, as she really does not like her. "What do you see in her anyways?" Ember asks in a bit of a questioning tone. "I really don't have time for this today; I have a couple of meetings today." Spyro responds as he leaves the training room.

As he leaves, another dragon about the same age as him enters, his name being Flame. "Hey Ember, what's up?" He asks Ember, who he has a crush on. After Ember doesn't respond, he figures out what's going on. "Spyro brought up Cynder again didn't he."

"What does he see in her? She's pure evil!" Ember says referencing Cynder's past. "I don't know. But we can't choose who people fall in love with." Flame responds rather philosophically. Ember then leaves to continue with her schedule, mostly consisting of "randomly" running into Spyro at certain times during the day, leaving Flame behind. "Ember, when will you know how I feel towards you?" Flame asks as he leaves to continue his day.


	3. The Villain Revealed!

Chapter III

The Villain Revealed!

As the day droned on, Spyro found himself near one of the academy courtyards, and in said courtyard was Cynder, the only dragoness Spyro ever admitted he loved. Cynder, a shadow elemental dragoness about the same age as Spyro, was also training to use her family's weapon, the Bow of the Shadows, handed down to her by her father, Ignitus.

Despite only having inherited the bow about an hour after Spyro inherited his family's blade, she was already a natural-born marksman, splitting almost every arrow she already impaled the training dummy with, causing large amounts of straw to fall out of it.

After firing the last of her 24 arrows, Cynder walks over towards the now broken training dummy to retrieve them, that's when she notices Spyro walking into the room. "Hey Spyro. What's up?" She asks Spyro. "Not much, just training with the family blade." He says, motioning towards the scabbard on his waist. "Good to know. But if I know you like I think I do, shouldn't you still be training?" Cynder responds, curious as to why her boyfriend is here rather than training. "One word. Ember." Spyro says, answering Cynder's question. "Why does my sister have to be so annoying?" Cynder asks.

Yes, Cynder and Ember are sisters. "I wish I knew, Cynder, I wish I knew." Spyro responds. "Oh, well, that's just the way the cookie crumbles, I guess. Anyways, I've got to get going, my shift at the cafe is about to start and I've got to hide my bow." Cynder says as she leaves. Yes, Cynder works in a café, deal with it.

"If only I could tell you how I feel, Cynder." Spyro regretfully tells himself as he leaves. As Spyro is about to return to the training room, Flame stops him. "Hey Spyro." Flame says as he greets his old friend. "Not much." Spyro responds. "Still couldn't work up the guts to tell Cynder how you feel, eh?" Flame asks. "Seriously, what do you see in her?"

Spyro, as if it was an instinct, responds rapidly. "As if I haven't said it already. She's kind, gentle and tough as nails if need be. She's got the voice of an angel and the soul of a priest." Spyro responds. "By "soul of a priest" I'm guessing you mean a pure soul, right?" Flame asks, curious. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean." Spyro responds. "Well, you keep working at it buddy, I've got things to do." Flame says as he leaves.

Spyro just stands there for a bit, perplexed by his long time friend's responses to his questions. He already told Flame what "Soul of a Priest" referred to, so why did he ask him? "Something is wrong here, very wrong. I'd best get back to training, I think I'm going to need this blade very soon." Spyro says as he leaves.

Little does Spyro know, his suspicions are correct, for when Flame left, he sought out a very peculiar dragon, an evil dragon by the name of Craddock. Craddock was exiled from the realms long ago, and has since hired Flame as a sleeper agent!

"Flame, what do you have to report?" Craddock asks his unaware spy. "Do you know of the temple's weak points?" Flame, now with the revelation that his eyes are glazed over, a sign of hypnosis on Antichthon, the hypnotized dragon tells Craddock everything

"The Dragon Temple has one weakpoint, the underground passageways, nobody uses them anymore, so don't expect much company." Craddock gains a look of what is supposed to be pleasure, but nobody can tell really.

"Excellent, and what of Spyro?" Craddock asks Flame. "Spyro has a single vulnerability, his love for Cynder. He hasn't shown the guts to tell her yet." Flame responds, not knowing what he's doing. "Excellent. Now that I have their weakpoints in hand, I can take revenge for what that purple demon for what he did to me!" Craddock says as he removes his mask, revealing a disfigured, demonic face which looks something like that of Freddy Krueger if you ask me.

"To others, he seems a natural leader, but he's nothing but an insolent fool! If he thinks he'll stop me, he's got another thing coming!" Craddock tells Flame as he puts on a black glove and pulls out a sword, a rapier in type with a blood red hilt. "This time, the Purple Dragon will meet with defeat!" Craddock tells himself as he laughs maniacally.

**Geez, Craddock is not only totally maniacal, but he's got the looks to back it up! No Nightmare on Elm Street reference intended, I just needed a facial description for the character and I saw a classmate who was doing the exact same project looking up Freddy Krueger for, I think, her version of this project and I thought "Why not?" Anyways, sorry there wasn't an author's note at the end of the last chapter, I totally forgot about it. Anyways, I've already calculated the key points I need to finish this story out. There will be 7 more chapters after this one. Also, If you want to know what The Blade of the Purple Dragon and The Bow of the Shadows look like, follow this link: wiki/Satan_Saber, for the sword and this link: wiki/Chalice_Arrow, for the bow. Yes I know the name of the basis sword sounds evil, but there's a point to be made here. After all, Malefor, who was evil, was trying to find the sword to use it for his own evil purposes before he destroyed it. And plus the sword is from a foreign series that I know about but never saw, so deal with it. **


	4. Craddock Strikes!

Chapter IV

Craddock Strikes!

As the sun sets upon Craddock's lair at Twilight Falls, we return to the Dragon Temple, where Spyro is practicing late, trying to hone his skills with a blade, when Cynder returns from her shift at the café in Downtown Warfang.

Noticing Spyro's stress, considering she knows his routine better than anyone other than himself that is, walks up to him to ask what's going on. "Spyro, what are you doing training so late? This really isn't like you." Cynder asks Spyro. "Cynder, I think something's happened to Flame." Spyro responds.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Cynder says inquisitively. "I mean,…" he sighs "I don't know how to describe it at this point, but he knows I have a code for certain things, and when I told him one of the statements I've used before, trust me he knows them all, he had no idea what it meant. Call it a wild chance, but I think something's wrong." Spyro answers.

"Your logic seems reasonable, but I'm pretty sure it's nothing." She says as a small explosion rocks the temple, emanating from the other side of the building.

"That came from the Council Chamber!" Spyro says with urgency in his voice "We have to figure out what's going on." Cynder says as both of them run towards the scene of the explosion.

**Oh dear, you can cut the tension with a knife at this point! Sorry if I kind of gave away what's happening, but whatever, deal with it. Also, sorry for this chapter being short, my pre-determined points made this the perfect location for a cliffhanger, so I'd work with it, that's me though. To see what's happening in the Council Chamber, tune in next chapter. Same Time, Same Channel! **


	5. The First Swordfight

Chapter V

The First Swordfight.

When the two dragons arrive at the Council Chamber, they find the scene in utter chaos.

Dragons who reside at the temple, except for the Guardians are running in fear from the sight in front of them, namely a large dragon with no elemental coloration whatsoever, wearing a mask and carrying a sword in the rapier style. That's right, Craddock is here.

"Who are you? And why have you come here?!" Spyro asks the intruder, demanding an answer. "My name is Craddock, and I have come to take my revenge upon you!" Craddock answers as he pulls out his sword and attempts to charge Spyro with it, until he counters with his own blade.

"What! You're a swordsman?!" Craddock asks in disbelief. "That's right, you are evenly matched now." Spyro responds. "I think not, prepare to see the face of horror!" Craddock yells as he throws his mask into the fire behind him, revealing his horrifying face, which actually causes Cynder to faint from sheer terror.

"What happened to you?" Spyro asks his hideous adversary. "I was once a soldier of Malefor, when you destroyed the Golem in Warfang, it landed on me, and caused by face to become what you see now. And now, I shall take my revenge for myself and Lord Malefor!" he says as he charges Spyro sword in hand.

The two equally matched swordsmen continue their duel, all the while, Flame, still hypnotized, picks up the unconscious Cynder and exits out the same door that Craddock emerged from.

Craddock, noticing this, uses his sword's blade in the hilt of Spyro's sword to flip him and make his escape.

As the fire dies down, Spyro notices Cynder is missing. "Okay, this just got personal!" He yells to the winds.

**Spyro's first real Swordfight! Yes! However, he loses, but that's not bad, it just shows he has a lot to learn. But he'd better learn fast, as he's got to rescue Cynder from this creepy-looking madman! Also, this sets a record for me, three edits to one fanfiction in one day, score! Also, If you're wondering more about Craddock, or Faust from "The Doll Collector", I'll be posting an OC Analysis story later on. To find out what happens to Cynder and Spyro from here, tune in next chapter. Same Time, Same Channel!**


	6. Who is Craddock?

Chapter VI

Who is Craddock?

After the fire dies, Spyro tells Ignitus everything that happened on their side of the blaze.

"Hmm… so it seems Craddock has returned, as we feared." Ignitus tells Spyro. "Wait, you've dealt with him before?" Spyro asks his mentor.

"Yes, yes we have." Ignitus says "Long ago he was an ally of ours, before he was revealed to have been a spy for Malefor the whole time. He then joined the army of Malefor, being severely wounded when the Golem attacked Warfang. Now he seeks vengeance for a tragedy he could easily have fixed by just moving out of the way."

Spyro is stunned by how Ignitus describes his foe. "He is driven by rage, and blinded by his lust for power. He must be stopped at all costs." Ignitus tells Spyro, informing him of the dire situation.

"I have to do this. He's a swordsman, so only another swordsman can take him down." Spyro tells his mentor as he draws his sword from its scabbard.

"I understand entirely, young dragon, go. I will prepare the Temple defenses in case of another attack." Ignitus responds.

With a nod, Spyro returns his sword to its scabbard and flies off into the night, searching for his foe.

"May the Ancestors protect us, may they protect us all." Ignitus says to himself as he leaves to prepare the defenses.

**Spyro is off to save Cynder once again! As I see it, Spyro will do anything to save her, and that's a good thing. He's even braved the depths of Hell to rescue Cynder. Now you know why Craddock is evil, so that should do absolutely nothing, as we already knew he was. Also, I know the phrase at the end is not an exact replica of Ignitus' famous saying, but I like this version better. Also again sorry for this chapter being so short, my preset chapter breaks are really not helping that one bit. To see what happens when Spyro and Craddock meet again, tune in next Chapter. Same Time, Same Channel! (PS. If anybody can guess where my ending comes from, I will put their OC, if they have one, in my next story!)**


	7. Confrontation!

Chapter VII

Confrontation!

As Spyro flies to the rescue, Cynder finally regains consciousness, only to find herself chained to a wall, inside some sort of cave, with a hypnotized Flame standing watch.

"Okay, I guess Spyro was right about something being wrong." she tells herself. "Now I just need to find a way to escape."

Craddock then enters the room, sword in hand. "Don't even bother trying to escape." he tells his captive. "There's no way out of those chains, except for the one key, which I keep on me at all times."

As soon as Craddock says this line, a shadow swoops down over his Twilight Falls lair. "Let her go, Craddock!" says Spyro as he enters the cavern, sword drawn.

"Well, well, well, somehow I knew you'd show up." Craddock tells his "guest" as he draws his sword and presses it against Cynder's neck. "Come one step closer and the lady meets a gruesome end." he says.

"What do I do?" Spyro thought "How can I rescue Cynder, now? Wait, I've got an idea!"

He tells himself as he puts his sword back in the scabbard. "I see you've finally acknowledged that you can't win this time." Craddock tells Spyro as he makes the foolish mistake of putting his sword back in its scabbard. "Now, do you have any last words before you die?" he asks.

"Yes. You've just made the biggest mistake of your life!" Spyro tells Craddock as he releases a fireball attack, which hits Craddock's front right leg, giving him enough time to snatch the key.

"I can't believe I fell for that! It doesn't matter now though. It's time for you to DIE!" Craddock yells out as he draws his sword.

**Talk about a cliffhanger! This story is coming to a close faster than you can say every chapter name I've published thus far! Let's see how this ends, but that is next time. Also, my Titanic fanfiction has been on hold for the longest time, but just to let you know, it'll be back up and running again in a few days! I'm just waiting for school to get out so I'll have more time to edit it, as it takes a long time to find a plausible ending for that one. To see how the swordfight turns out, tune in next chapter, Same Time, Same Channel!**


	8. The Duel

Chapter VIII

The Duel

"So that's how it's going to end, in a battle of the blades. So be it" Spyro says drawing his own sword.

A clap of thunder boomed as the two equally matched swordsmen engage each other in a sword fight of which the minstrels still sing. Yes, this is the swordfight described in the opening, so now you're caught up to the present.

As the fight continues, Spyro and Craddock eventually end up on a slim ledge near the edge of Twilight Falls. As Craddock is about to use his rapier to again flip Spyro by his sword, Spyro gets the jump on him, knocking his sword out of his hand and over the falls, while the blade accidentally hits Craddock's arm.

"The duel is over, Craddock. You lose. Give up" Spyro tells his disarmed opponent.

"You may have won the battle, but the war is far from over! Whether you know it or not, you'll never uncover my master's true plan!" Craddock tells his adversary as he gets back up.

"Now, Farewell Spyro!" he says as he tries to land a punch on Spyro, but misses and falls off of the ledge to his death.

As Spyro returns his sword to its scabbard, Cynder exits the cave that served as her prison, when she notices Craddock is nowhere to be seen.

"Wait a second, where's Craddock?" Cynder asks, curious as to the fate of her kidnapper.

"He fell off the ledge; something tells me we won't be seeing him anytime soon." Spyro responds.

"Wait, where's Flame?" he asks. "I don't know, as soon as you started dueling with Craddock, he disappeared." Cynder responds.

As Spyro stood on that ledge on Twilight Falls that night, he finally realized that his quest was still unfinished.

Knowing this, he reached into the small backpack he always had with him for unknown reasons, and pulled out a small black box.

**Yet another Epic Cliffhanger! What is in that black box? That's part of the surprise ending, hope you're ready for it! BTW, I will be finishing the story by the end of today, as I only have 2 more chapters left to publish, so I hope this ends well for these two! To see the most shocking ending I have written yet, tune in next chapter. Same Time, Same Channel!**


	9. Will You Marry Me?

Chapter IX

Will you Marry Me?

"Cynder, there's one thing I've been dying to ask you, but I haven't been able to work up the courage to say it." Spyro tells Cynder.

"What is it?" Cynder asks.

In response, Spyro gets down on one knee and opens the box revealing a diamond engagement ring inside.

"Will you marry me?" he asks.

Cynder is awestruck at Spyro's proposal, so awestruck she's at a loss for words, except for one.

"Yes!" She tells her future fiancée.

After Spyro gives Cynder the engagement ring, the two of them fly off, back to the Dragon Temple to announce their impending marriage.

**I would say I didn't see this ending coming, but I did since I wrote it and all. Yes I know this chapter is really short, but with good reason. This whole thing was such a dramatic moment for me to write, so I decided to give it its own chapter! So yeah, this thing is shorter than the first chapter more likely than not, but now you know the reason for that. But wait there's more! There's a secret in Chapter X (10), but what is it? To answer that, ask yourselves this question. "Why did we never hear of Craddock's plan?" To answer this and many other questions you may have, tune in next time for the final chapter. Same Time, Same Channel!**


	10. Craddock's Real Plan

Chapter X

Craddock's Real Plan

What neither of our young heroes know is what is happening deep inside that cave.

At what seems to be the center of the cliffside, there is a drawing of the 9-pointed Elemental star, and the Fire portion has a figure standing in it.

That figure is Flame, now not hypnotized but in quite a bit of pain as the elemental energy is being literally drained right out of him.

The center of the star begins to be covered in black smoke, and two fiery forms that appear to be eyes emerge.

"One down, eight to go" says the mysterious figure in the smoke in a distorted voice. As the figure laughs maniacally, the scene fades to black.

**(Screams) WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?! Actually, I know, remember that star from the end of "The Doll Collector"? This is the same thing. And that shadowy figure is Malefor, for note. So I guess you can figure out what's going on, but if you can't, here's the answer. Malefor is having his servants in the world of the living capture and hypnotize dragons of all elements so once the "cover task" is finished, they can be drained of their elemental powers. Just as a note, here are the 9 elements Malefor needs, Fire, Lightning/Electricity, Ice, Earth, Shadow, Wind, Fear, Poison and Dragon Time. The first eight seem really easy, but how is Malefor going to get the Dragon Time Element, you ask? Well, I won't tell you, that would just ruin the surprise, now wouldn't it? Anyways, stay tuned not only for updates on Spyro and Cynder in Titanic, coming this summer, but for Part III of the Return of Malefor, "The Ties that Bind"! (Note: The wedding of Spyro and Cynder will be in this next story, Hence the title, "The Ties that Bind", The Ties being the bonds of wedlock. Thank you) **


End file.
